A peak audience of 23.2 million watched the England football team crash out of the Euro 2012 tournament. Figures for Sunday night's match on BBC One peaked during the five minutes containing the penalty shoot-out, attracting a 77% share of the audience.
England's defeat by Italy was the most watched event on TV so far this year and had the highest peak viewing figure for any channel in eight years.
The previous peak came when England lost to Portugal in Euro 2004.
The 23.2 million peak audience beat the 19.9 million peak achieved by last year's Royal Wedding coverage on the BBC.
